Silence was golden for Reese at Bassmaster

LONG BEACH – Something strange happened to Skeet Reese during the weigh-in for the 39th Bassmaster Classic.

As Reese held up the most-coveted trophy in bass fishing, as fireworks went off and confetti rained down, as the capacity crowd of 9,300 bass fans in the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, La., went wild, Reese only remembers one thing:

The sounds of silence.

“My whole world went quiet,” said Reese of Auburn, who became the first Californian to win the Bassmaster Classic on the Red River 13 days ago. “I remember everything about the weigh-in, the crowd, but really, everything is in slow motion. There's just silence. It was weird.”

Reese, who lost the 2007 Bassmaster Classic to veteran pro Boyd Duckett by 6 ounces, started bass fishing as a teenager, first competing in bass club tournaments before moving on to team tournaments. He fished all the minor bass fishing circuits in the state, and now at 39 years old, after 11 years on the Bassmaster Tour, he is at the summit of his profession. He took the $500,000 winner's check and found the peace and calm that goes with getting there. And although it was quiet at the top, it has been anything but lonely. His interview requests have been constant and many.

“I'm surprised I can still talk,” said Reese, who entertained Thursday at two seminars at the Berkley booth and stage at the Fred Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show in Long Beach.

Reese finally made it home to Auburn this week after doing appearances for his sponsors and visiting his father and grandfather in New Orleans. His wife and two daughters were with him in Bossier City. They took the emotional victory lap with him in the logo-covered trailered bass boat around the CenturyTel Center.

From Long Beach, Reese was off to Texas to begin the 2009 BASS Elite Series. As Classic champion, he already has qualified for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic.

“I'm really looking forward to the tournaments starting and the competition to start again,” Reese said. “I don't want to backslide into the Classic. I want to earn a spot, not just rely on the exemption. I want to compete and try for another Angler of the Year title (he won it in 2007). I want to get back to the Classic on merit.”

He won the Classic by fishing the entrance to a lake off the Red River, a place where the bass had to pass him on the way in and out. He concentrated on a 200-yard stretch of bank and mostly fished his three-eighths-ounce Lucky Craft Redemption spinnerbait and a Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw.

“I predicted before the Classic this Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw would be the lure of the Classic,” he said of the soft bait with the Power Bait fish-attracting formula injected in it.

Sure enough, Reese was quoted on the eve of the Classic, saying: “The Crazy Legs Chigger Craw is a bad little dude. They've added the tentacles that give it that slow swimming action, and that's something we didn't have in our lineup before.”

In addition to his fishing ability, Reese is well-known for his business acumen in a sport filled with individual contractors who specialize in catching bass and representing sponsors. Reese is one angler who has the personality and the business sense to turn a Bassmaster Classic win and $500,000 check into much, much more. Clearly, Reese left Louisiana poised for the next level of his bass-fishing career.

“The plan right now is to get some Fortune 500 companies interested, not just for me, but for the sport,” Reese said. “One of the responsibilities of winning the Classic is to represent this sport and do the best by it. My goal is to put some teams of anglers together, two, three, four guys to get with companies for boats, trucks and other things.”

Reese said the buzz haircut he sported at the Classic will stay. This is a free spirit known for his freaky hairstyles that included bleach-blond, spiky hair and more. At one point, he said he probably spent more time and money on his hair than most women. His good friend, John Murray of Arizona, once said his buddy “changes hairstyles like I change shirts.”